Newspapers get new life as butanol fuel for cars: Scientists at Tulane University, in New Orleans, have discover...

The age of the internet may be making much of the printed press redundant, but there is still one good use of newspapers; as a source biofuel . Scientists at Tulane University, in New Orleans, have discovered a novel strain of bacteria they call ‘TU-103 ’ that feeds on paper to produce butanol . The researchers are currently experimenting with old copies of a local New Orleans paper called The Times-Picayune with great success. Tulane University has now applied for a patent for a method to produce the biofuel butanol from organic material, a process developed by associate professor David Mullin, pictured right, postdoctoral fellow Harshad Velankar, center, and undergraduate student Hailee Rask. TU-103 is unique because it is thought to be the first bacterial strain from nature found to producesbutanol directly from cellulose. “Cellulose is found in all green plants and is ...